The Crying Room
by Christine Leigh
Summary: Post-ep for "Requiem." Third person POV. Scully returns to Bellefleur.


TITLE: The Crying Room  
AUTHOR: Christine Leigh  
RATING: PG  
CATEGORY: Vignette, MSR  
SPOILERS: Requiem.

SUMMARY: Post-ep for "Requiem." Third person POV. Scully returns to Bellefleur.

DISCLAIMER: All characters are the products of Chris Carter. They also belong to Ten-Thirteen Productions and the Fox Network. No copyright infringement intended.

ARCHIVING: If you would like to archive anywhere, I'd appreciate a quick note first.

The Crying Room  
by Christine Leigh

Bellefleur, Oregon  
June 2000

Friday night  
Check-in

She isn't very friendly. Guarded, maybe. Most people would probably say that 'hostile' would best describe her demeanor. I don't know. I try not to be too quick to judge people, and I'd only seen her the one time before, about a month ago, when she and the other agent had been here. Agent Gorgeous with the to-die-for eyes. And his name, get this, was Fox. I'll be blunt. If I hadn't gotten an instant vibe off him that indicated he wasn't interested in anyone besides her, I'd have broken a few rules. No, make that all the rules. He'd done most of the talking on that occasion since he'd done the registering, and it hadn't been much, but with a man like that, you don't really need much. Two rooms. Yeah, sure. My spies say that she spent at least one night in his. Have to love Housekeeping - they're very good at their job. My internship here ends soon and I'll be gone come September when the fall quarter starts, so until then whatever entertainment, or in this case intrigue, can be found is welcome.

I'm not a soap fan, but the real life stuff sucks me in every time. And this is one hell of a situation if the stories are to be believed. I know it sounds crazy, but apparently this abduction- by-alien thing is a big, but mostly unspoken about, part of the local folklore, if you can call it that; the stories of the kids who disappeared several years ago. And now the one who came back is gone again. He was cute. And friendly. Not like his dad. I'd encountered both of them during that time last month. It's all very strange. And even stranger if it's true, Agent Gorgeous is gone now, too. He returned here a few days after they'd gone back to D.C., and he hasn't been seen since shortly after that. And now here she is again, and he's not with her. My rational side (yes, I have one) is saying that he's down with the flu, or assigned elsewhere. Or, maybe that night was a rule-breaker and they got busted. He could be working with someone else now. Yeah, sure. One thing I think is true, though, is that they always work in pairs. And tonight she's alone. She didn't register as a federal agent this time, but somehow I don't see this as a vacation. Also, and this says a lot, she asked for his room. The one where they'd spent the night together according to my sources. I had to look it up to confirm that after she'd left the desk, and sure enough, it was the same room. For a flash there, when I'd said that it was available, she looked so grateful. Then she asked that no calls be put through unless from a Walter Skinner. I looked that one up and hit the jackpot again. He'd been with Agent Gorgeous on the return trip. She kind of sounded desperate when she'd made that request. Who, I wondered, didn't she want to hear from? On second thought, maybe it's not hostility. Maybe she's tired. This is a long way to come for a couple of nights of sleep, but given the details of this particular story, that's not exactly a strange thing. I'm glad the room wasn't already taken.

* * *

Sunday morning  
Check-out

Well, this time there wasn't anything juicy, but then there would have had to have been an 'occurrence' I suppose for that to be, and nothing was reported over the last two nights. Agent Gorgeous is still not here, in other words.

I'm not sure if I'll miss all this stuff some when I leave or not. I was never anything more than a casual sci-fi fan, "E.T." and all, but now I don't know if I could watch even that movie without it being colored by what's happened here. At any rate, I don't imagine I'll ever stop wondering what happened to him. Fox. No, I think I'll stick with Agent Gorgeous.

Housekeeping is on their game though. Myra told me this morning that there was nothing to report from 'the room' aside from the sound of crying last night; Friday had been silent. She'd delivered an extra pillow and then hung around outside for awhile afterward. The lights were soon out, and then she'd heard it. It was low and muffled, but it was definitely crying. She hadn't stayed long after that, it was too hard she'd said. The woman had looked so sad when she'd taken the pillow from her. Myra asked me about him then. She hadn't been on shift during the time the two of them were here before. I told her I'd never seen a man like that before, and that Agent Gorgeous wasn't an exaggeration at all. And his eyes. God, those eyes. The most beautiful brown eyes I'd ever seen and hoped to have look back at me ever. We were just short of giggling like a couple of twelve-year olds when it happened. There she was, standing there ready to check out. We were so busted. Our backs had been to the door, and I hadn't heard it open. She was good at her job, too, apparently. I tend to blush easily, and hoped I wasn't too close to crimson as I handed her the bill. If she was angry, her voice didn't betray her. And then I could see that her eyes were wet. She wasn't crying now, not exactly, but I felt like she would with the right provocation. I don't have any sisters, but I felt for a moment like I wanted to hug her as though she were one. What would she do without him, I wondered? She was clearly in agony. She signed the bill, and gave me her key. The only words she had spoken were to say "thank you" when I'd handed her the piece of paper. Perfunctory nothingness. She turned and walked away. I doubt I'll ever see her again.

She was almost through the door, and then she turned back to look at me. It was just a short distance; it's a very small reception area. I thought I saw a brightness there for a moment, surrounding her, kind of like a cartoon version of a star on top of a Christmas tree with little lines in all directions indicating points of light. Weird doesn't begin to describe the scene before me. Her voice brought us back to earth.

"Hazel. His eyes are hazel." She left.

- end -


End file.
